I have a portable folding design wall I purchased at Paducah a year ago.  Right now my husband and I are living in a 1 bedroom apartment until we get our house built.  Until then I just try to make small projects and if it is larger I lay it out on our bed.  Seems to work for the time being.  Your new one sounds great I will  be looking into it when I have more room.

My quilt studio is 16' X 16.'  I purchased a cardboard measuring mat (36" x 72") from Hancock Fabrics and nailed it to one side wall.  I covered that with a half-inch thick piece of polyfoam that I got at Home Depot, leaving the mat's measurements at the top and sides visible.  Over that I placed a white flannel piece of material over the whole thing.  Until I decide to move, this is a permanent design wall that is perfect for laying out blocks and/or viewing a quilt in progress.  Sometimes it gets crowded with ideas or sample blocks. :):)

In my office in the next room, I also have a flannel-backed tablecloth on the wall where I place finished quilts to take photos.  It has brighter, natural light in that room.

Lilian

In the beginning I used the living room floor - but my cats, Cali and Maggie, were a little to helpful in laying out the blocks.  Now I use our queen size bed.  Less crawling around on the floor and it is easier to see what will fit.

I've used the floor and beds.  I've also bought flannel yardage and hung it over the door but that limited me to about a 36" wide space.  I finally gave up on a make-shift design wall and bought this F&P Design Wall about 3 weeks ago.  I love it.  I use the Command 3M hooks to hang it with so there are no nails and no damage to my wall.  The size is large enough to put a whole lap quilt on and it has gridlines so you can put you pieces on straight.  It is a very nice product.

I didn't mention that the flannel I put over my inch thick polyfoam has the two-inch grid on it, which helps with measurements.  I've had it since I started quilting in 2004, so it probably isn't the F&P grid.  Also, the nail holes in the wall  [it's my house] are easy enough to fix with a little spackle and paint.  In fact, that's easier than making a quilt. :):)

I purchased a 4x8 sheet of styrafoam insulation board from Home Depot and covered it with white flannal.  It fits prfectly in the frame of a closet door in my sewing room.  It works great.  And, if I need to get at the storage in the closet, the design wall is light weight and easily moved.

I used to hang a large piece of flannel on a wall, but then I moved my sewing room to a smaller area and now I don't have any wall space--sometimes I throw a piece of flannel over the door, but other times I use the spare bed or the living room floor. I think I'll have to look into the F&P design wall!

I use a self-created portable design wall. Because I lived in an apartment at the time (I now rent a 2-bedroom house), I didn't want to afix it to the wall. It is made out of 4X8 styrafoam insulation I got for $2.00 from the Lowe's nearby. They cut it (free of charge) into 2 ft. wide pieces. I then covered each piece with batting using a spray on adhesive, sewed up a huge four compartment envelope out of white flannel, and, with the aid of plastic shopping bags, slipped each piece into the envelope. I whip-stitched the open side closed by hand. Now I have a design wall that stands 4 ft. high and can be used on both sides in 2-foot, 4-foot, 6-foot, or 8-foot widths. I can fold it up to store or just leave it free-standing near my sewing machine or in the middle of the room. I love it!

I bought a king-size fleece blanket from the big box, plus two replacement bungie corded tent poles.  I threaded the tent poles into opposing hems and my husband put three big hooks in the wall, top and bottom, so that I can take it down and wash it occasionally.  It's big enough for just about any quilt, or 2 wall-hangings.

Since we are planning to move I didn't want anything permanently attached to a wall.  I have purchased a 72 x 72 design wall, which is just the felt, and have wrapped it around 2 large picture boxes (approx. 3-1/2 x 4-1/2 x 1 ft each stacked on each other for 7 feet high) and pinned on the sides and top.  Seems very stury and even leans backward a couple of inches against the wall.  I did look at the foam insulation sheets 8 x 4 at Lowe's but they are hard to get home and didn't want to cut it.   I like the grommet idea though.

I'm lucky enough to have a whole bedroom for my quilting. My husband used two pieces of 4x8 foam insulation and fastened them to the wall. We tried 3M Command fasteners, but the foam board fell right off of them. So he used screws and washers to make them sturdy. I used a cheap poly king-size batt to cover them and pins to fasten to the sides of the foam. Pieces cling to the batt without pins until I start sewing strips together. Then I have to pin them in place. Can't tell you how many design errors I've avoided since I have the design wall. The only drawback is that it goes to the top of the 8' wall and I'm 5'2". Good thing my husband likes to help me!

The design wall that I have used for over six years is a single layer of cotton/poly batting with the full width and stretching from floor to ceiling.  I tack it up and the blocks and even full the quilt adheres to it.  When it gets too many threads, I use a clothes roller brush to pick off these.  I have moved three times and this piece of batting is still in top shape.  I highly recommend it for size and cost.

I used a flanel yardage when I could leave it on a wall as long as I wanted.

Now that I can't, I bought a foldable design board at Houston Festival. I thought it would be easay to assemble and fold again whent people come. But it is not so quick… So I used it only once. Since then, I made only small "picture" quilts I could leave on the floor !

I have never used a design wall, I have always done large projects and use my King size bed for laying things out. Great ideas, and like the thought that the F&p has a grid  and grommets to attach it. Thanks for bringing it to our attention as I haven't been shopping in a while.

I don't have the luxury of space for a separate sewing room, so I redesigned the guest room using a king size Murphy Bed (folds into the wall when not in use). When the bed is closed into the wall, I hang a king sized piece of batting over the Murphy Bed doors. It gives me a huge design wall.

I bought the design wall that Fon's and Porter have and love it! It covers the sliding closet doors in my sewing room. Used screw in coffee cup hooks on the bottom of the trim so that should I need to take it down and paint, etc, you won't see the holes. Perfect for a space that was unusable before. We have 2 cats and a dog, so critter hair was a problem until now. The sewing room is off limits for them but they have the rest of our big old rambling farm house so they don't seem to mind. LOL (our bed wasn't a good choice as the cats sleep there sometimes and even though I vaccum our bedcover off, you can't get it all off)

I would suggest it to anyone with limited room and fluffy friends.

My husband installed a piece of molding at the ceiling/wall angle about half the room length of the wall (window got in the way). On the bottom of the molding are cup screws every 9". I found the largest flannel backed table cloth, installed grommets to match the screws and have a very large (quilt size) design wall!

I never had one.  Usually I would just lay it out on the floor or a bed.  My husband thought he would build one. Then my daughter saw the one in Fons and Porter. So we ordered it .  It is great. I actually have 3 projects up there now.  It really gives a good perspective.

I have a permanent design wall my husband built for me out of core foam that  I covered  with cotton batting it works just great , we even put some moulding around it to pretty it up.

could someone tell me how to order the one from Fons and Porter. I think that would really fit in the area I need it to go.

I have a dedicated sewing room. The sliding closet doors are my design wall - I simply taped flannel to the doors and voila!! I didn't use any foam insulation so the doors function normally and I can pin ideas to the flannel as well.

I have the F & P design wall. One problem though, since I quilt in an attic turned sewing room, I do not have a flat wall, it's kinda half wall, half roof! But,still it works pretty good.

I have used the living room floor and my husband has helped me lay out the design and then we walk around it and "tweak" it a couple of days.  My basement sewing room would not let me have a design wall - stone walls.

In my sewing area, space is limited, so I placed my large book shelves facing toward the inside of my space, as if it were another wall. The wood back side of the book shelving cabinet is facing the outside of my sewing area, but still easily accessible. I cut a piece of heavy white felt to fit the entire back of the shelving, sprayed one side of the felt with  adhesive spray and also sprayed the back of the book shelving with adhesive spray. I then placed the sprayed side of felt onto the shelving back and smoothed it out as if wallpaper. When the felt surface was completely dry, I  "framed" the entire edges of the newly formed design wall by cutting and nailing in place wood molding. It looks nice, is very functional, and expands my work area.

Kathy Boice

I bought 2 4x8 sheets of styrofoam insulation and my husband bolted them to the wall of my quilt studio. I tacked a king-size cheap batting on the foam, folding it around the edges and pinning it there. The only drawback is I can't reach the top (at the ceiling) so my husband has to help. But that's okay because he likes to help.